Civil Litigation
At Hilcrest Solicitors, we handle the following types of disputes and claims:
- Building and property disputes
- Disputes over division of Assets
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy
- Contested probate cases
- Partnership disputes
- Breach of contract
- Debt recovery
Litigation can be complicated, worrying and expensive. Our dispute resolution lawyers offer extensive experience in resolving issues for our clients in the most efficient manner possible. We take the time to fully understand our clients’ legal position and diligently seek favourable outcomes. We offer practical and timely advice that has helped us build a strong reputation.
We believe that expensive court proceedings should only ever be the last resort to resolve your dispute. As such, we encourage out-of-court settlements (also known as alternative dispute resolution), via mediation and/ or negotiations, wherever possible, as, perhaps, cheaper alternatives to litigation and likelier to produce outcomes that are better for our clients
Although we strive to provide alternatives to litigation, however, we also understand that in certain situations, the courtroom is unavoidable. In those instances, we’ll fight strongly on your behalf. We can assist with the whole process of recovering money owed to you, from writing the initial letter of claim through to drafting and issuing your statement of case and obtaining the court judgment.
Our debt recovery work is cost-effective and reliable. We charge a fixed fee to recover your debt, provided the claim is not disputed. We can also enforce court judgments as necessary. Please note that you cannot reclaim the VAT element of our fixed fee from your debtor. Furthermore, interest and compensation can take the debt into a higher band, thus increasing your costs. Our clients include individuals and businesses both large and small.
We understand that it can be anxious and stressful for individuals and businesses experiencing debt worries or possible bankruptcy or insolvency, or having trouble getting customers to settle debts. We can offer advice tailored to your situation, help negotiate the setting up of manageable payment plans or other plan of action, prepare and serve statutory demands, as well as issue bankruptcy or winding up proceedings, etc. We can also apply to the court to dismiss a statutory demand and/ or attend the hearing of the bankruptcy or winding up proceedings on your behalf. We can also help in defending a claim brought against you.
Our work includes taking your instructions and reviewing your paperwork; undertaking appropriate investigations; sending out a letter of claim; receiving payment and sending on to you, or if the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing a claim in the court; where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default; once Judgement in default in received, writing to the other side to request payment, and if payment is not received within 28 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs.
Matters usually take 4 to 36 weeks from receipt of your instructions to receipt of payment from the debtor, depending on whether it is necessary to issue a claim or not. And on the basis that the debtor pays promptly on receipt of Judgement in default. The matter will take longer to resolve, if enforcement action is needed.
Please note that if the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised costs advice, which might not be on a fixed or capped fee basis, but on an hourly rate basis. While it can be difficult in such cases to estimate the costs of court cases, we can give a realistic costs estimate, in most cases, from our previous experience. We always discuss the risks with you and can agree a fixed fee (if your claim is undefended) or to cap our fee at an amount that we will not exceed without your agreement.
Contact Us now to arrange a consultation with one of our experienced litigation lawyers.